Some of Today’s Overpriced Tech Products

It’s full of overpriced devices out there. Here’s a short list of shame that I’ve compiled during years of reading hardware & technology news.

Lenovo PCs – they’ve took over IBM’s high quality laptop business and proceeded to thoroughly exploit it. Almost all competing brands offer a lower price for identical hardware configurations. Dell, another high quality manufacturer is also among these competitors (and unlike Lenovo, they’re much more upfront with drivers & servicing manuals, both of which are available online). Did I mention that Lenovo was recently involved in a major spyware scandal^?

Razer – oh no, it’s those guys who try to make their devices seem more capable or expensive by adding fancy LED lighting and cool logos. Razer’s gaming laptop is nice but overpriced, so is most of their product catalog. What’s worse is that the company also has lots of quality issues^. Admittedly, Razer has innovated quite a bit in the past decade, so at least they’re putting the money to (some) good use.

Any top CPU or GPU model – unless you’re swimming in money, don’t buy the fastest CPU or GPU. Their price-performance ratios are terrible (around twice the price for just 50% extra bang). Always buy mid-range or mid-to-high-range, unless you urgently and imperatively need everything you can get and are sure you will fully exploit it.

Oculus Rift – despite being cheaper than the competing Vive, the Rift comes with no special VR-designed controllers and lacks room-scale (the ability to track the position of the player’s body). Oculus controllers will only come out in Q4 2016 and the platform will probably continue to lack room-scale. Add to this a rather arrogant approach to cross-platform compatibility and you got a product that definitely needs some additional time to mature. For those that want to get into VR, I recommend the Vive. This is a completely unbiased recommendation since I do not own either of them, nor do I intend to buy anything just yet.

What about Apple? Their products are indeed over-priced, but this is at least partially justified. The quality of Apple hardware is among the highest I’ve ever seen. The software is highly optimized so that it requires fewer resources. This is especially important when it comes to mobile devices. Apple devices have impressive battery life. The company also deserves credit for currently having the highest standard in terms of privacy and security for its customers. All things considered, with Apple, you get what you pay for. And no, I do not own any single Apple product, being a long-time PC / Android user.